Year-End Review: Keep Up The Good Work

It's been a minute since I've written a blog post in response to an Action Plan daily pledge. And this week -- the closing of what's been quite a remarkable year (that started on a good foot with the 2010 WLAP!), as well as the opening of what will be my 30th year of life, it seems appropriate.

Review, consideration, meditation -- it's an important part of the journey. A light tap on the shoulder, "hey, remember me?" Oh yeah, I know you, you're that issue that needs to be confronted in order to move forward.

It seems cliche, as a woman, to be concerned about this year's birthday, but in terms of accomplishment, I've always felt behind. Thus I have many desires for the coming year, but I suspect they may not manifest themselves in their entirety. I'm the tortoise of the group, taking slow, carefully measured baby steps. But I'm on my way, and I must trust in that.

But man, it's effing hard. Thank God for the Pacific.

Allow me to explain. For the first time ever, I spent Christmas in a warm climate. Southern California, to be exact. My dearest friend moved to Los Angeles two-and-a-half years ago, and she usually flies home for the holidays. She and I grew up together, designating the title BFF even while still nestled in our mother's respective wombs. It was clearly meant to be: our father's met when they were 17-year-old stock boys in Brooklyn, our mother's became best friends by association, she and I were born exactly four months apart, growing up in the same neighborhood on Long Island. Our families have shared vacations, holiday dinners, and financial burdens. I grew up in a house on Charles street because her parents recommended the suburbs of Nassau County and knew someone on the housing commitee. It seems her family (and fate) conspired to give me a very specific life experience.

Due to work obligations, she was unable to fly home for Christmas this year. But you don't understand, fate. Christmas in New York is ritual. Christms in New York is kinda, like, non-negotiable. This would be the first year she'd spend it without her family, whom she's very close to, a reality I found difficult to accept. So I asked if I could come to her. We could prepare and enjoy a healthful Christmas dinner on the West coast while our parents enjoyed a bountiful buffet, Italian-style, on the East coast. The other days I would play the role of tourist. The maps, guidebooks, and itinerary were marked up and packed safely in my carry-on (I'm a planner in all things). Christmas week in Cali in which I intended to return on the 27th. But mother nature had other plans.

Because of the storm, my airline was honoring a change of flight for any date up until January 14th -- an offer I ran with. I'm now spending the first two weeks of 2011 in LA, which is a nice companion to the 28 Day Challenge, I think.

I mention this because this has really been a "Get Well" trip for me. The past two months have been filled with distraction and anxiety, and not just for obvious reasons. I've lost touch with the important work I've been doing to become my best self. Vacations are important because they're an escape, but for me, this trip has directed me back towards what I've lost. Walking the beach in Santa Monica, tea at the Huntington gardens, staring at the mountians in the beautiful (and warm, OMG) Coachella Valley (I later discovered her boyfriend has family in Palm Desert) -- it's been a transformative experience.

Just as this year has been.

So while I gear up for the 28 Day Challenge: buying groceries, writing goals and recording behaviors in my Moleskin Wellness Journal (suggested by Whole Living), checking in with the gentle and very supportive community, I have to take a moment and express some serious gratitude for all this year has given me. I blogged earlier in the year that the 2010 AP was more about the mental than the physical for me (2009 was physical). It wasn't easy (it's never easy), but the insight, the small discoveries and improvements, and especially the advice from the magazine and the support from the community -- it's helped me mature and grow in tremendous ways. But it's not finished yet. I'm just rolling up my sleeves. This year's plan will ingrain the practices of the last two years and I'm looking foward to discovering what else it will offer.

Gratitude, patience, grace. I'm on my way. Keep up the good work.